Categories

Archives

Does a Basic Home Security System Stop Crime?

We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.

First of all we need to establish what a basic security system is. This may be different depending on the security installation company that you talk with but typically a security system consists of:

Basic Security Panel

Front Door Contact

Back Door Contact

Interior Garage Door Contact

Motion Sensor

Interior Siren

Statistics tell us that 34% of the time a burglar will break in through your front door. It does not attract attention when a stranger walks up to a front door because after all where would someone normally go to enter a house? The back door of your home is the next favorite entry point for a would be burglar and accounts for 22% of break-ins. So if you have a basic security system with the front and back door protected you have covered 56% of the popular entry points for an intruder.

So what about the other entry points?

Many alarm companies will tell you that you can place a motion detector in the traffic area of your home and that will provide the necessary protection. It is true that in most cases the thief will go to the bedroom area of the home looking for things to steal. If a motion sensor is placed in the hallway then the intruder will be detected when they get to that area. You have to ask yourself a couple of questions in regards to this theory.

When do you want to detect an intruder?
What if they enter and exit a bedroom window?

You want to detect an intruder when they are on the outside of your home. If they break or pry open a window you want the alarm to sound. At this point the intruder has a choice to continue or flee. This also sends an alert to the authorities that much quicker. If you are depending on a motion sensor to protect the rest of your home then you are not providing adequate protection. If a burglar enters a bedroom window and then exits the same window they will never be detected by a motion sensor that is located in a hallway.

What happens when you arm the system in “Stay Mode”?

When you are staying home and arming your security system you choose “Stay Mode” This allows you to have perimeter protection and also move about your home without triggering the alarm. In order to do this the system will automatically turn off the motion sensor. So let’s think about this:

When you go to bed you set the alarm in stay mode

You are most unprotected when you are sleeping

By arming the system in stay mode you turned off your protection that you were counting on if the burglar enters somewhere other than the front or back doors.

So at night you only have protection from an intruder if they enter the front of back door.